Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif: US will not stop Iran oil exports

Norman Tucker

Zarif met on Tuesday with the his foreign ministry counterpart from North Korea a country also under US sanctions

He is seeking to compel Iran to agree to a new nuclear accord, but the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China have pledged to abide by the deal they negotiated along with the U.S. in 2015, and continue trading with Iran.

Few American companies do much business in Iran so the impact of sanctions mainly stems from Washington's ability to block European and Asian firms from trading there.

Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif turned the tables on Washington's efforts to isolate the regime, saying Monday that it is in fact the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia who are isolated in their hostility towards Iran. "But now, all the countries in the world are supporting Iran".

The US now plans on adding Iranian oil and gas to the sanctions in November this year.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump wrote on social media that "anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States".

Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear agreement in May, and said that he plans to reinstate USA nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

NASA Assigns Crews to First Test Flights, Missions on Commercial Spacecraft
Williams has been named for the Boeing programme to the ISS - the first test flight scheduled to take place in the middle of 2019. The astronauts assigned to the Starliner's first mission are Sunita Williams, who retired as a Navy captain, and Cmdr.

"It's pretty clear to us that they were trying to use that exercise to send a message to us that as we approach this period of the sanctions here that they had some capabilities", Votel told reporters at the Pentagon.

But, despite Mr Trump's advice to stop dealing with Iran, member states of the European Union look set to defy the sanctions, putting them on a collision course with Washington once again. "Our crews that are on board our ships are well rehearsed, well prepared by the U.S. Navy when they come into our area", Votel said.

Long-running discontent over high prices, unemployment, water shortages and the lack of political reform has sparked numerous protests over the past week, though verifiable information is scarce due to heavy reporting restrictions. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall.

Beijing reaffirmed its stance on United States sanctions at a sensitive time in Sino-American relations, full of trade disputes and China's repeated accusations that Trump is pursuing unfair protectionist policies. Petroleum-related transactions and transactions by foreign financial institutions with the Central Bank of Iran will also be affected.

The new rules mean foreign exchange bureaus will reopen after an attempt to fix the value of the rial in April backfired spectacularly, with corrupt traders making a fortune out of a mushrooming black market.

"Improving relations with Iran and confronting unilateralism is North Korea's strategic policy", Ri said in response. They target US dollar financial transactions, Iran's automotive sector and the purchase of commercial planes and metals, including gold.